1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates controlling a computer system. More particularly, the present invention relates to uploading configuration and control tables to remote management hardware in a computer system.
2. Background of the Invention
It is becoming increasingly more common today to incorporate some sort of management hardware into server computers. Such management hardware may take the form of a card or embedded logic. In either case, the management hardware provides an external to connection to other servers and possibly other devices, such as power supplies, control modules, and the like. The management hardware generally provides a number of functions such as power management, system configuration and remote system management.
In order for the management hardware to perform some or all of its functions, it generally must know certain specific information about the computer system in which it resides. Examples of such system specific information include, without limitation, the type and number of central processing units (“CPUs”), interrupts, power management capabilities, and the types of disk drives present in the computer. Such information resides within the computer itself, such as in memory. One previous way for the management hardware to obtain the needed information was for the computer to have one or more drivers, i.e., specialized programs, that, upon request from the management hardware, provided the requested information to the management hardware. This process typically occurred during run-time thereby reducing the ability of the computer to perform other valuable tasks and impairing performance. Also, these drivers needed to be developed and maintained for each new server platform and the functionality of the management hardware was very limited.
Accordingly, a better mechanism is needed to provide the necessary system-specific information to management hardware that resides in or with a computer.